Ornamental plastic shutters are frequently fastened to an exterior house wall immediately on either side of a window. Window sizes, of course, vary significantly. Further, the plastic shutters are generally made in colors that match siding colors. Therefore, plastic shutters are made in a variety of different sizes and a variety of different colors. This requires a separate mold for each size and, of course, stocking the different sizes and different colors.
In the past there have been numerous attempts to provide shutters that can be cut to a desired size and assembled. For example, Foltman U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,966 discloses a shutter which includes separate slat portions, body portions and end rails that can be cut to a desired size and assembled with screws. Likewise, McGowan U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,116 and Chubb U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,442 disclose such types of assembled shutters. The problem with these shutters is they require a lot of work to assemble and further, the pieces of the assembled shutters do not form a tightly assembled shutter.
Another problem associated with the Foltman design is that the slat portions and body portions slide together in a channel that runs along right and left side rails. It is very difficult to slide the individual portions of the shutter through the channels. If the channels are enlarged to make it easier to assemble, the shutter becomes loose and aesthetically less appealing.
One solution to this problem is disclosed in Vagedes U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,373,677 and 5,430,986 and Gandy U.S. Pat. No. 5,617,688 which disclose end caps which fit over the upper and lower edges of the shutter. The shutter is simply cut to a size and the end caps placed over it. Thus the side rails, slats and body portions are all formed from one piece with the upper and bottom caps formed separately. In this embodiment, however, the end caps must fit over the top and bottom of the shutter which in certain circumstances may not provide the desired appearance.